De Vries details abandoned Faenza trip amid storms

AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries has thanked those who assisted him during an ultimately fruitless attempt to reach AlphaTauri’s factory in Italy.

The Emilia Romagna region was beset by extreme rainfall through Tuesday, leading to excessive water levels, flooding and landslides.

Formula 1’s planned Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola this weekend was called off by championship officials on Wednesday.

De Vries was meant to be present at AlphaTauri’s factory, at Faenza, for a marketing day on Wednesday ahead of the planned grand prix, but was caught up in the adverse weather, having travelled from Monaco.

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Writing on his Instagram page, de Vries posted: “Tuesday evening 11.30pm. It’s raining intense, Faenza is already flooded, and I am unable to get to my hotel.

“Returning to the highway is no option either. Stuck in a little village with one fully booked hotel.

“Fortunately McLaren got stranded there earlier and their front jack Frazer was kind enough to give me his room.

“The following morning the hotel lobby turned into an emergency shelter for people who were forced to escape their homes during the night.

“Post F1 announcement, I only saw one potential option to get home, which was driving via Firenze.

“After an adventurous drive through the mountains, thanks to the help from local people and authorities in different villages, I finally got home safely.

“Thank you to every single person who has been kind enough to help me. It was truly heart-warming to see so many look out for each other.

“My thoughts are with those who continue to be affected by this tragedy. I’ll be back soon in Faenza to meet my team and the people from the region.”